


The Beast Within 7/?

by iantosgal (orphan_account)



Series: The Beast Within [7]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:37:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/iantosgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is back from his time with the Doctor and his team are keeping something from him, but what? Set after KKBB.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beast Within 7/?

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a story I posted a couple of years back on my LJ. My Torchwood muse buggered off and the story died. A couple of days ago, I found it, re-read it and the muse was reawakened!! So I've written a couple more chapters and just wanted to repost this over here on my new profile! So sorry for the spam of chapters, if anyone remembers it from LJ then I'm sorry for the long wait and for anyone that reads, I hope you enjoy it!!!

Jack stood quietly just outside the archives. He could hear Ianto moving around inside but he was worried about going in. Ianto had been really angry and Jack wasn’t used to seeing that side of him. At least he wasn’t used to having that anger directed at him.

It was only after Ianto had yelled at him that Jack realised how insensitive he had been. He hadn’t realised Ianto had made a connection between himself and Beth. But it wasn’t just that. Jack realised that he had treated Beth badly. He should have been more sympathetic, more compassionate. To all intents and purposes, Beth was a human being and he had treated her like dirt.

He hadn’t made the link between Ianto and Beth because, to him, Ianto posed no threat. He had control over the wolf and even though sometime he lost it, Jack knew Ianto would do what he could to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone. Beth didn’t have that luxury. She had no control. The alien was slowly taking her over and soon there would be no humanity left in her. She would not be able to stop herself from hurting innocent people.

Jack knew that he and Ianto needed to talk but he was terrified of what might be said. He had left and even though he knew Ianto didn’t blame him for what happened Jack couldn’t shake the feeling that if he had been there, if he had been with Ianto, then the wolf would never have gotten Ianto. None of this would have happened.

He hovered outside the archives door for so long that in the end the decision was made for him. Ianto came out and stopped at the sight of Jack. He sighed, such a weary sound that it made Jack want to reach out and pull the younger man into his arms. It was such a world weary sound and it should never have come from Ianto. It pained Jack how much older than his young years Ianto often seemed.

“We should talk,” Jack said softly.

Ianto merely nodded his head and turned away, heading towards Jack’s office. The others watched them carefully as they crossed the main Hub.

Once in Jack’s office Ianto settled himself in the chair opposite Jack, who sank into the seat but found he couldn’t relax into it, his nerves keeping him on the edge of his seat.

“Ok. So talk.” The bluntness of Ianto’s voice made Jack flinch slightly.

Where to start?

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

Ianto shook his head.

“That’s not good enough Jack.”

“I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry that this happened to you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you. I’m sorry I was a heartless bastard with Beth. I’m sorry I never made that link between you and her and, dammit, I’m sorry that I love you too damn much to see you as a threat, to see you as anything over than the man I love, the man I would do anything to protect.”

Ianto swallowed, looking into Jack’s beautiful eyes and the tears that glistened there.

“I know I messed up, but I can’t stand being away from you. I see you every day and yet it’s like we’re worlds apart. I feel like I don’t know you anymore and you know what? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what you say, what you do, I love you all the same.”

“Jack.” Ianto chewed on his bottom lip. “I really hope that’s true.”

Jack looked at him, his unasked question clear on his face.

Ianto took a deep breath.

“When I was first infected, there was this girl. Her name was Alice Jean Kinski.”

*~*~*~*

Ianto told Jack everything. He told him about Alice and all he had done to try and fix the gaping wound he had left in her parents life. He told him about the pain that ripped though his body every time he transformed at the full moon, the pain he had felt when the Wolf had sunk it’s claws into his flesh that first time. He told him about the anger that thundered through him, often appearing seemingly from nowhere. And he told him about his fear that there would be more like Alice Jean Kinski, torn from the world because of his weakness.

As he spoke, he cried. Tears of pain, sadness and anger but mostly of relief. It was good to talk about it he realised. It was good to talk to Jack. And more importantly Jack wasn’t looking at him in disgust, there was no horror in his eyes, no hate just pure, unadulterated love, compassion and even a mirror of his own pain.

When he had finally finished, when he had laid himself bare before the older man, Jack didn’t run. He simply stood, walked around the desk and pulled Ianto to him, letting Ianto cry into his shoulder.

He pressed a kiss to Ianto’s forehead and that spoke louder than any words he could have uttered.

And Ianto hated himself for ever thinking Jack would respond differently.

*~*~*~*

Ianto joined the others in the boardroom. He had taken some time to sort himself out, but now he was more composed and for the first time in months he felt oddly at peace. They were in the middle of a case which could be disastrous for Earth, with a woman who made Ianto feel like his insides were being torched and twisted when the alien was being forced from her and yet, he felt only serenity.

He smiled at Jack as he took the seat next to him and Jack smiled back. Ianto sighed. Back to business he thought.

“We can't let her go, she's too dangerous.” Jack’s voice was tentative and he looked sideways at Ianto as though fearing he was about to explode again.

Ianto merely nodded his agreement. He knew Jack was right. There was a difference between him and Beth and it was all about control. However many hiccups Ianto had had along the way, he still had some semblance of control over what was inside him, whilst Beth did not.

“We could freeze her. Use the alien cryogenics. Wake her up if we figure  
out how to stop her memories from coming back,” Tosh suggested.

They debated it for a while. How long? Her implant would still gather information, so how could they disable it? What about her husband?

“She’ll have to disappear completely. No goodbyes.” Jack said.

The others shared a look. It wasn’t a nice way to do it, but it would cause too many questions and complications if they let her see him one more time.

“How do I tell her?” Gwen asked.

“You don’t.” The others turned and looked at Ianto in surprise. “I do.”

*~*~*~*

Ianto let himself into the cell where they were holding Beth. She looked up at him from where she was slumped down on the floor. She gave him a tight smile and then looked away.

Ianto surprised her by letting the door close, crossing the room, and sitting next to her. She looked at him and found herself lost in the clear blue eyes that screamed trust and honour at her. She could also detect something else in them that looked like pain and sadness. She found that she wanted to open up to this young man, tell him everything. He would understand.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked.

“We want to try freezing you. That way we can hopefully find a way to save you.”

She nodded slowly.

“How long will it take?”

“Who knows?”

“What about my husband?” She looked deep into those blues searchingly.

He looked away for the first time and she sighed.

“You can’t see him again. I’m sorry.”

She felt the tears begin to fall.

“You can’t do this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I need to see him. I am losing everything. At least let me say goodbye.”

“We can’t.”

She felt angry at these people, high and mighty with their ideas on humanity. She got to her feet quickly.

“How dare you do this to me? This isn’t my fault! This isn’t me! You people have no idea what I am going though!”

“I do.”

His simple statement brought Beth up short and then her anger boiled. How dare he?

“How on earth can you understand what I’m going through?” she seethed.

Ianto said nothing, he simply stood and in one fluid motion pulled his t-shirt over his head. She blinked and then her eyes widened at the huge scars across his chest.

“A few months ago, I got this.” He motioned towards his chest, as if she needed clarification. “It was an alien, a wolf alien. You heard of werewolves? Well, that’s basically what I am. It’s linked to anger so it’s hard for me to control. But I can, most of the time. It’s like something else has taken me over, so trust me, I know exactly what you’re going through.” He knew he had spoken quickly, a sort of ramble, but he wanted to get it out before he lost his nerve. It was still hard for him to talk about this.

She simply stared at him, a sad look on her face. She would never have believed this, but after today, she was less sceptical. She swallowed.

“Can I?” she asked, reaching out a hand.

Ianto was a little startled but he nodded slowly.

She closed the distance and traced the bottom scar with the tips of her fingers. She did the same with the next one and the next. When she reached the top one, which ran directly over his heart, she suddenly yelled and clutched her head.

Ianto stifled his own yell and put his arm around, her holding her up. He couldn’t describe the pain he felt but he knew it wasn’t his. He didn’t understand why this was happening. Why was he feeling her pain?

“Oh God. Those poor men.”

Ianto just tightened his arm.

“We should head up.”

She sighed wearily and nodded. He pulled back, pulled his t-shirt back on and held out his hand. She took it without hesitation.

*~*~*~*

Gwen wanted to stay with Beth until it was all done. Beth would rather have been with Ianto.

She had held his hand for as long as possible, keeping him close. He stood by her throughout the preparations and when the time finally came she pulled him into a tight hug. She didn’t want to let him go, and for the life of her, she didn’t know why. She guessed it was because he was the only one she felt connected to, because he really did understand what she was going through. Unlike the others, he wasn’t just trying to imagine it.

*~*~*~*

The lights flickered and alarms flashed and wailed moments before Ianto felt it. A tension in his stomach, little tendrils of pain whipping occasionally through his body and he knew exactly what was happening.

“She’s gone. Beth’s gone,” he said.

Gwen looked at the monitors.

“He’s right,” she said, astounded.

And things just went tits up from there.

*~*~*~*

Ianto, Tosh and Owen were left in the Hub, completely cut off.

Owen was dialling frantically on his mobile.

“Can’t you just hook something up?” he grumbled.

“No, I can't just hook something up! The entire telephone network is down!” Tosh snapped.

“What about mobile connection?”

“The entire network is down,” she said, slowly, stressing every syllable.

Ianto sighed and felt the need to help her out.

“Mobiles, landlines, tin cans with bits of string. Everything. Absolutely everything. No phones, phones all broken.” He held up his hand like a phone to his ear. “Hello? Anyone there? No, ‘cause the phones aren't working.”

They snapped round as a radio crackled into life and Jack’s voice echoed through the Hub.

As soon as the radio came on, Ianto felt the pain again. He thought that he couldn’t feel it because they were so far away but as soon as the radio came on it was like she was there in the room and he was surprised at how intense it was compared to earlier. He could only imagine what she was feeling.

He screamed and flung his hands to his head. Owen spun round.

“Ianto?” He ran to him and grabbed his head in both his hands. “Shit. Tosh turn it off, turn it off.”

“What’s going on?” Jack’s voice was worried.

“Jack, what do you need? Tell me quick we need to close this line.” Tosh had to shout to be heard above Ianto’s cries.

“Is Ianto ok?”

“Jack!”

“There's a cell, it's active. Four including Beth - two are dead. We're  
tracking the last guy now. If we can get to him before he does anything, we can stop this.” He spoke quickly, feeling his heart break at Ianto’s yells. It was clear that whatever had effected him during the mind probe was happening again and Jack wanted to end his suffering as quickly as he could.

“What can I do?” Tosh asked.

“He's heading for an abandoned farm just outside the city. I need to know  
what's out there.”

“I’ll radio back when I can.”

Tosh cut the connection.

There was silence on Jack’s end for what seemed like hours and then the radio crackled into life.

“The mineshaft. The military are using it for storage. Nuclear warheads. Ten of them. Nobody's supposed to know, not even us.”

Gwen looked at Jack, understanding in her eyes.

“They’re going to use our own weapons against us.”

“Shit.”

Owen reached over and shut the radio off, Ianto took a deep breath and got groggily to his feet. He really hated this whole unknown pain thing. He just wished he knew what was causing it.

“You alright?” Owen asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What happens if they can’t stop the Cell?”

Owen and Tosh looked at Ianto is shock. They didn’t think he would have been able to understand anything that was happening through the pain.

“Then it’s all over.” Tosh answered.

“Let’s all have sex.” Owen said.

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“And I thought the end of the world couldn’t get any worse.”

*~*~*~*

“The day just wouldn’t have been complete without an explosion would it?” Ianto muttered making Jack smile slightly. “Or without you getting yourself killed. You know, that is getting a bit to frequent for my liking.”

“Sorry sir.” Jack said, cocking an eyebrow. “I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”

“So lets try this freezing idea again.” Ianto walked away, Jack close behind him.

Ianto looked up towards the lab where he could see Gwen talking to Beth. Part of him wanted her to leave Beth alone so he could talk with her himself. He felt like they had made a connection and he should be the one getting her prepared. He was pretty sure that the woman found Gwen a bit annoying.

Beth’s next actions seemed to confirm that fact.

“I won’t let you freeze me!” Beth shouted, dragging Gwen out on the walkway. Her arm morphed into the blade and she held it to Gwen’s throat.

There was series of clicks as the other four Torchwood members pulled out their guns.

“No no! Wait, wait, wait, wait! She won’t hurt me. She won’t.” Gwen shouted.

“I'll kill her first, then all of you, then the rest of your miserable species!”

“Beth. Just calm down.”

Beth raised her arm in the air, as if she was about to strike Gwen, but at the last moment, when no one fired, she lowered her arm with a sigh.

Gwen huffed out a breath and smiled with relief.

“It’s ok.”

“No it’s not. I am losing my humanity and there is nothing anyone can do about it.”

Ianto slowly made his way up to the steps to where Beth stood. She looked so lost.

She turned and looked at him, her eyes pleading with him.

“Even if you freeze me, there is no way of knowing that you can stop this. Help me.” Those last words were whispered, for Ianto only. “You know how this feels. I can’t control it. Please, help me.”

Ianto raised his gun and fired, hitting her squarely between the eyes. Gwen cried out.

Then there was silence and Ianto walked through the Hub, way from the others. He didn’t want them to see his tears.


End file.
